Gettysburg Address

The only known photo of Lincoln at Gettysburg (seated, center), taken about noon, just after Lincoln arrived and some three hours before he spoke. To Lincoln's right is his bodyguard, Ward Hill Lamon.(full view).

The Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln's most famous speech and one of the most quoted political speeches in United States history, was delivered at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Template:USCity, on November 19, 1863, during the American Civil War, four and a half months after the Battle of Gettysburg.

Lincoln's carefully crafted address, secondary to other presentations that day, has ultimately become regarded as one of the greatest speeches in American history. In fewer than three hundred words delivered over two to three minutes, Lincoln invoked the principles of human equality espoused by the Declaration of Independence, and redefined the Civil War as a struggle not merely for the Union, but as a "a new birth of freedom" that would bring true equality to all of its citizens.

Beginning with the iconic phrase "Four score and seven years ago", Lincoln referred to 1776 and described the ceremony at Gettysburg as an opportunity not only to dedicate the grounds of a cemetery, but also to consecrate the living in the struggle to ensure that "government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth".

Ironically, despite the speech's prominent place in the history and popular culture of the United States, its exact wording is disputed. The five known manuscripts of the Gettysburg Address differ in a number of details, and from contemporary newspaper reprints of the speech.

Background

Union dead at Gettysburg, photographed by Timothy O'Sullivan, July 5–6, 1863

The Battle of Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863) forever changed the little town of Gettysburg. The battlefield contained the corpses of over 7,000 soldiers and several thousand horse carcasses, leaving the few thousand residents of Gettysburg with a daunting task. The stench of rotting bodies made many townspeople violently ill in the weeks following the battle, and the burial of the dead in a dignified and orderly manner became a high priority. To that end, under the direction of David Wills, a prosperous 32-year-old attorney, Pennsylvania purchased 17 acres (69,000 m²) for a cemetery to honor those lost in the summer's battle.

Wills originally planned to dedicate this new cemetery on Wednesday, September 23, 1863, and invited Edward Everett, who had served as Secretary of State, U.S. Senator, U.S. Representative, Governor of Massachusetts and President of Harvard University, to be the main speaker.

Wills' letter inviting Lincoln to make a few remarks, noting that Everett would deliver the Oration.

At that time Everett was widely considered to be the nation's greatest orator. In reply Everett told Wills and his organizing committee that he would be unable to prepare an appropriate speech in such a short period of time, and requested that the date be postponed. The committee agreed, and the dedication was postponed until Thursday, November 19.

Almost as an afterthought, Wills and the event committee invited Lincoln to participate in the ceremony. Wills' letter (left) stated, "It is the desire that, after the Oration, you, as Chief Executive of the nation, formally set apart these grounds to their sacred use by a few appropriate remarks".^[1] Lincoln's role in the event was secondary, akin to the modern tradition of inviting a VIP to cut the ribbon at a grand opening.^[1]

Lincoln arrived by train in Gettysburg on November 18, and spent the night as a guest in Wills' house on the Gettysburg town square, where he placed the finishing touches on the speech he had written in Washington.^[2] (Contrary to popular myth, Lincoln neither completed his prepared remarks while on the train nor wrote them on the back of an envelope.)^[3] On the morning of November 19 at nine-thirty, Lincoln joined in a procession with the assembled dignitaries, townspeople, and widows marching out to the grounds to be dedicated astride a chestnut bay horse, between Secretary of State William Seward and Secretary of the Treasury Salmon Chase.^[4],^[5]

Approximately 15,000–20,000 people are estimated to have attended the ceremony, including the sitting Governors of six of the twenty-four States of the Union: Andrew Gregg Curtin of Pennsylvania, Augustus Bradford of Maryland, Oliver P. Morton of Indiana, Horatio Seymour of New York, Joel Parker of New Jersey, and David Tod of Ohio.^[6] The precise location of the program within the grounds of the cemetery is disputed.^[7] Reinterment of the bodies buried in field graves, which had begun within months of the battle, was less than half complete on the day of the ceremony.^[8]

Program and Everett's "Gettysburg Oration"

The program organized for that day by Wills and his committee included:

Music, by Birgfield's Band
Prayer, by Reverend T.H. Stockton, D.D.
Music, by the Marine Band
Oration, by Hon. Edward Everett
Music, Hymn composed by B.B. French, Esq.
Dedicatory Remarks, by the President of the United States
Dirge, sung by Choir selected for the occasion
Benediction, by Reverend H.L. Baugher, D.D.^[1]

Edward Everett

What was regarded as the "Gettysburg Address" that day was not the short speech delivered by President Lincoln, but rather Everett's two-hour oration. Everett's now-seldom-read 13,609-word speech began:

"Standing beneath this serene sky, overlooking these broad fields now reposing from the labors of the waning year, the mighty Alleghenies dimly towering before us, the graves of our brethren beneath our feet, it is with hesitation that I raise my poor voice to break the eloquent silence of God and Nature. But the duty to which you have called me must be performed; — grant me, I pray you, your indulgence and your sympathy."

And ended two hours later with:

"But they, I am sure, will join us in saying, as we bid farewell to the dust of these martyr-heroes, that wheresoever throughout the civilized world the accounts of this great warfare are read, and down to the latest period of recorded time, in the glorious annals of our common country, there will be no brighter page than that which relates The Battles of Gettysburg."

• Edward Everett's complete "Gettysburg Oration"^[9]

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address

Not long after those well-received remarks, President Lincoln spoke in his high-pitched Kentucky accent for two or three minutes. Lincoln's "few appropriate remarks" summarized the war in ten sentences and 272 words, rededicating the nation to the war effort and to the ideal that no soldier at Gettysburg — Federal or Confederate — had died in vain.

Despite the historical significance of Lincoln's speech, modern scholars disagree as to its exact wording, and contemporary transcriptions published in newspaper accounts of the event and even handwritten copies by Lincoln himself differ in their wording, punctuation, and structure. Of these versions the "Bliss Copy" has become the standard text. It is the only version to which Lincoln affixed his signature, and the last he is known to have written:

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

• Audio link to actor Sam Waterston reading the Gettysburg Address.^[10]

The five manuscripts

Selection from the "Nicolay Copy" of the Gettysburg Address in Lincoln's handwriting.

There are five known manuscript copies of the Gettysburg Address, each named for associated person who received it from Lincoln: The Nicolay and Hay Copies were given by Lincoln to his two private secretaries, John Nicolay and John Hay, and were written around the time of his November 19 address, while the other three copies of the address, the Everett, Bancroft, and Bliss copies, were written by Lincoln for charitable purposes well after November 19. In part because Lincoln provided a title and signed and dated the Bliss Copy, it has been used as the source for most facsimile reproductions of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.

Some confusion and controversy is associated with the existence and provenance of what are now known to be the two earliest drafts of the Address. Nicolay and Hay were appointed custodians of Lincoln's papers by Lincoln's son Robert Todd Lincoln in 1874.^[3] After appearing in facsimile in an article written by John Nicolay in 1894, the draft in Nicolay's possession was presumably among the papers passed to Hay by Nicolay's daughter Helen upon Nicolay's death in 1901. Several years of unsuccessful searching by Helen were further spurred by the inquiry of Robert Lincoln, who began a search for the original copy in 1908. In a letter to Lincoln, Helen Nicolay stated, "Mr. Hay told me shortly after the transfer was made that your father gave my father the original ms. of the Gettysburg Address."^[3] Lincoln's search resulted in the discovery of a handwritten copy of the Gettysburg Address among the bound papers of John Hay — a copy now known as the "Hay Draft," which differed from the version published by John Nicolay in 1894 in the paper used, number of words per line, number of lines, and editorial revisions in Lincoln's hand.^[3] It was not until eight years later in March 1916 that the manuscript known as the "Nicolay Copy," consistent with both the recollections of Helen Nicolay and the article written by her father, was reported to be in the possession of Alice Hay Wadsworth, John Hay's granddaughter. (op.cit.)

The Nicolay Copy

The Nicolay Copy ^{[11] [11]} is often called the "first draft" because it is believed to be the earliest copy that exists. Scholars disagree over whether the Nicolay copy was actually the reading copy Lincoln held at Gettysburg on November 19. In an 1894 article that included a facsimile of this copy, Nicolay, who had become the custodian of Lincoln's papers, wrote that Lincoln had brought the first part of the speech written in ink on Executive Mansion stationery to Gettysburg, and that he had written the second page in pencil on lined paper before the dedication on November 19.^[12] Matching folds are still evident on the two pages, suggesting it could be the copy that eyewitnesses say Lincoln took from his coat pocket and read at the ceremony. Others believe that the delivery text has been lost, because some of the words and phrases of the Nicolay copy do not match contemporary transcriptions of Lincoln's original speech. The words "under God," for example, are missing from the phrase "that this nation (under God) shall have a new birth of freedom…" In order for the Nicolay draft to have been the reading copy, either the contemporary transcriptions were inaccurate, or Lincoln uncharacteristically would have had to depart from his written text in several instances. This copy of the Gettysburg Address apparently remained in John Nicolay's possession until his death in 1901, when it passed to his friend and colleague John Hay, and after years of being lost to the public, it was reported found in March 1916.

The Hay Copy

File:Gettysburg.haydraft.jpg

The Hay Copy, with Lincoln's handwritten corrections.

With its existence first announced to the public in 1906, the Hay Copy ^{[11] [11]} was described by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Garry Wills as "the most inexplicable of the five copies Lincoln made." With numerous omissions and ^ inserts, this copy strongly suggests a text that was copied hastily, especially when one examines the fact that many of these omissions were critical to the basic meaning of the sentence, not simply words that would be added by Lincoln to strengthen or clarify their meaning. This copy, which is sometimes referred to as the "second draft," was made either (a) on the morning of its delivery, or (b) shortly after Lincoln's return to Washington. Those that believe that it was completed on the morning of his address point to the fact that it contains certain phrases that are not in the first draft but are in the reports of the address as delivered and in subsequent copies made by Lincoln. It is probable, they conclude, that as stated in the explanatory note accompanying the original copies of the first and second drafts in the Library of Congress, that it was this second draft which Lincoln held in his hand when he delivered the address. ^[13] Lincoln eventually gave this copy to his other personal secretary, John Hay, whose descendants donated both it and the Nicolay copy to the Library of Congress in 1916.

The Everett Copy

The Everett Copy ^[14], also known as the "Everett-Keyes" copy, was sent by President Lincoln to Edward Everett in early 1864, at Everett's request. Everett was collecting the speeches given at the Gettysburg dedication into one bound volume to sell for the benefit of stricken soldiers at New York's Sanitary Commission Fair. The draft Lincoln sent became the third autograph copy, and is now in the possession of the Illinois State Historical Library in Springfield, Illinois, where it is currently on display in the Treasures Gallery of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.

The Bancroft Copy

The Bancroft Copy ^{[15] [15]} of the Gettysburg Address was written out by President Lincoln in April 1864 at the request of George Bancroft, the most famous historian of his day. Mr. Bancroft planned to include this copy in Autograph Leaves of Our Country's Authors, which he planned to sell at a Soldiers' and Sailors' Sanitary Fair in Baltimore. As this fourth copy was written on both sides of the paper, it proved unusable for this purpose, and Mr. Bancroft was allowed to keep it. This manuscript is the only one accompanied by a letter from Lincoln transmitting the manuscript and by the original envelope addressed and franked (i.e., signed for free postage) by Lincoln. This copy remained in the Bancroft family for many years until it was donated to the Carl A. Kroch Library at Cornell University. ^[13] It is the only one of the five copies to be privately owned.^[16]

The Bliss Copy

Discovering that his fourth written copy intended for George Bancroft's "Autograph Leaves" could not be used, Mr. Lincoln wrote a fifth draft, which was accepted for the purpose requested. The Bliss Copy ^{[17] [17] [17]} is the only draft to which he affixed his signature. In all probability it was the last copy written by Lincoln, and because of the apparent care in its preparation, it has become the standard version of the address. This draft was owned by the family of Colonel Alexander Bliss, Bancroft's stepson and publisher of "Autograph Leaves," and is now referred to as the "Bliss Copy." It now hangs in the Lincoln Room of the White House, a gift of Oscar B. Cintas, former Cuban Ambassador to the United States. ^[13]

In part because Lincoln provided a title and signed and dated this copy, the Bliss Copy has been the source for most facsimile reproductions of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. As Garry Wills, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America, concluded, "it (the Bliss Copy) is stylistically preferable to others in one significant way: Lincoln removed 'here' from 'that cause for which they (here) gave…' The seventh 'here' is in all other versions of the speech." Wills added, "[the fact] that he [Lincoln] was still making such improvements suggests that he was more concerned with a perfected text than with an 'original' one (however that is understood)."

Another contemporary source of the text is the Associated Press wire service broadcast, transcribed from the shorthand notes taken by reporter Joseph L. Gilbert. It also differs from the drafted text in a number of minor ways.^[18],^[19]

Contemporary reaction

File:Gettys.nyt.jpg

The New York Times article from November 20, 1863, indicates Lincoln's speech was interrupted five times by applause and was followed by "long continued applause."

Contemporary reports from eyewitnesses vary as to their view of Lincoln's performance. The recollections of the 87-year-old Mrs. Sarah A. Cooke Myers, printed in 1931, who at the age of 19 was present at the speech, suggest a dignified silence followed Lincoln's speech: "I was close to the President and heard all of the Address, but it seemed short. Then there was an impressive silence like our Menallen Friends Meeting. There was no applause when he stopped speaking."^[20] According to historian Shelby Foote, after Lincoln's presentation, the applause was delayed, scattered, and "barely polite."^[21] In contrast, Pennsylvania Governor Curtin maintained, "He pronounced that speech in a voice that all the multitude heard. The crowd was hushed into silence because the President stood before them...It was so Impressive! It was the common remark of everybody. Such a speech, as they said it was!"^[22]

In a letter to Lincoln written the following day, Everett praised the President for his eloquent and concise speech, saying, "I should be glad if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes." Lincoln was glad to know the speech was not a "total failure."

Other public reaction to the speech was divided along partisan lines. The next day the Chicago Sun-Times would observe, "The cheek of every American must tingle with shame as he reads the silly, flat and dishwatery utterances of the man who has to be pointed out to intelligent foreigners as the President of the United States." In contrast, the New York Times was complimentary. A Massachusetts paper printed the entire speech, commenting that it was "deep in feeling, compact in thought and expression, and tasteful and elegant in every word and comma."

Lincoln himself, over time, revised his opinion of "my little speech."

Themes and textual analysis

Lincoln used the word nation five times, but never the word union: the U.S. was split asunder, and restoring the nation — not a "union" of sovereign states — was paramount. He also avoided the words slavery, nullification, or state's rights.

Lincoln's text referred both to the year 1776 and the American Revolutionary War, as well as the famous words of the Declaration of Independence that "all men are created equal." No similar allusions were made to the 1789 Constitution with its implied recognition of slavery (the word slave does not appear in the 1789 Constitution; the "three-fifths" clause simply says "three-fifths of all other Persons").

In Garry Wills' 1993 Pulitzer Prize-winning Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words that Remade America, he proposes a connection between the Gettysburg Address and the oratory of the Greek Revival and of the funereal addresses of classical Athens, and the Transcendentalism of Unitarian minister and abolitionist Theodore Parker (the first to use the phrase "of all the people, by all the people, for all the people") as well as the constitutional arguments of Daniel Webster.^[23]

James McPherson's review of Wills' book addresses the parallels to Pericles, and enumerates several striking comparisons between Lincoln's speech and Pericles' funeral oration after the Battle of Marathon as described by Thucydides.^[24] Both speeches open with an acknowledgment of revered predecessors: "I shall begin with our ancestors: it is both just and proper that they should have the honour of the first mention on an occasion like the present"; praise the uniqueness of the State's commitment to democracy, "If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private differences"; then honor the sacrifice of the slain, "Thus choosing to die resisting, rather than to live submitting, they fled only from dishonour, but met danger face to face, and after one brief moment, while at the summit of their fortune, escaped, not from their fear, but from their glory"; while dedicating the living to the continued struggle for the nation's aims, "You, their survivors, must determine to have as unfaltering a resolution in the field, though you may pray that it may have a happier issue."^[25],^[26]

Craig R. Smith, in "Criticism of Political Rhetoric and Disciplinary Integrity", also suggested the influence of Webster's famous speeches on the view of government expressed by Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address, specifically, Webster's "Second Reply to Hayne," in which he states, "This government, Sir, is the independent offspring of the popular will. It is not the creature of State legislatures; nay, more, if the whole truth must be told, the people brought it into existence, established it, and have hitherto supported it, for the very purpose, amongst others, of imposing certain salutary restraints on State sovereignties."^[27],^[28]

Some have noted Lincoln's usage of the imagery of birth, life, and death in reference to a nation "brought forth," "conceived," and that shall not "perish." Others, including author Allen C. Guelzo, suggested that Lincoln's formulation "four score and seven" was an allusion to the Bible's Psalm 90, in which man's lifespan is given as "threescore and ten."^[29],^[30]

Writer H. L. Mencken criticized Lincoln's central argument, which in Mencken's view was that the Union soldiers died at Gettysburg "sacrificed their lives to the cause of self-determination." Mencken contended, "It is difficult to imagine anything more untrue. The Union soldiers in the battle actually fought against self-determination; it was the Confederates who fought for the right of their people to govern themselves."^[31]

Myths and trivia

In an oft repeated legend, after he concluded his address at Gettysburg, Lincoln turned to his bodyguard (Ward Lamon) and remarked that his speech, like a bad plow, "won't scour." According to Wills (1992), p. 36, this statement has no basis in fact and largely originates from the unreliable recollections of Lamon. Instead, Wills added, "(Lincoln) had done what he wanted to do (at Gettysburg)."

There is another persistent urban legend that Lincoln wrote the speech on the back of an envelope while riding on the train from Washington to Gettysburg. However, this is not true. Several early drafts are in existence, and Lincoln modified it both the night before and probably even as he spoke.

According to Garry Wills, it is a myth that the assembled at Gettysburg expected Lincoln to speak much longer than he did. The oft-repeated story of the photographer at the event who was unable to take more photographs of the President because his speech was so short is also unlikely. Everyone there knew (or should have known) that the President's role was minor.

• Lincoln urban legends debunked^[32]

The Gettysburg Address in popular culture

The text of the Address is carved into a stone cella on the south wall of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

A side view of the sculpture inside the Lincoln Memorial; in the enlarged view, the words of the Gettysburg Address can be seen carved into the south wall in the background.

The continued popular knowledge of the address is reflected in the occasional use of phrases from it in popular culture, particularly its memorable opening line:

• In the 1967 musical Hair, there is a song called "Abie Baby/Fourscore" which refers to Abraham Lincoln and his assassination. It contains portions of the speech, delivered in an ironic manner, and ends with "Happy birthday, Abie baby, happy birthday to you… BANG!"
• In the 1989 movie Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Abraham Lincoln is snatched from the past by the time-traveling title characters; presented before their high school, Lincoln delivers remarks beginning with the phrase, "four score and seven minutes ago" instead.
• In the 1999 movie Dick, Betsy and Arlene say "four score and seven years ago our forefather did something I don't know…" This is an example of how Lincoln's words "our fathers", in the opening sentence, are frequently misquoted as "our forefathers."
• In the musical The Music Man, the Mayor consistently begins speaking with the words "Four score—" until another cast member hands him his speech.
• Humor: The Gettysburg Address conceived of as a Powerpoint presentation:^[33]

Notes

1. ^ "Abraham Lincoln in the Wills House Bedroom at Gettysburg". 2005-12-18.
2. ^ "Abraham Lincoln at the Gettysburg Town Square". 2005-12-18.
3. ^ "Saddle Used by Abraham Lincoln in Gettysburg". 2005-12-18.
4. ^ "Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg Cemetery". 2005-12-18.
5. ^ "getaddinfo". 2005-12-18.
6. ^ "Edward Everett's complete "Gettysburg Oration"". 2005-12-18.
7. ^ "Audio link to actor Sam Waterston reading the Gettysburg Address". 2005-12-18.
8. ^ "The Cornell Daily Sun - C.U. Holds Gettysburg Address Manuscript". 2005-12-18.
9. ^ "V. The Speech at Gettysburg by Abraham Lincoln. America: II. (1818-1865). Vol. IX. Bryan, William Jennings, ed. 1906. The World's Famous Orations". 2005-12-18.
10. ^ "History/Archives : The Associated Press". 2005-12-18.
11. ^ "Recollections of Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg". 2005-12-18.
12. ^ "Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg Cemetery (See above)". 2005-12-18.
13. ^ "Pericles' Funeral Oration from Thucydides: Peloponnesian War". 2005-12-18.
14. ^ "The New York Review of Books: The Art of Abraham Lincoln". 2005-12-18.
15. ^ "ACJ Special:Smith". 2005-12-18.
16. ^ "The Second Reply to Hayne (January 26-27, 1830)". 2005-12-18.
17. ^ "H-Net Review: Daniel J. McInerney". 2005-12-18.
18. ^ "BibleGateway.com - Passage Lookup: Psalm 90;". 2005-12-18.
19. ^ "Note on the Gettysburg Address". 2005-12-18.
20. ^ "Lincoln urban legends debunked". 2005-12-18.
21. ^ "The Gettysburg Powerpoint Presentation". 2005-12-18.

^ Wills, Garry: Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992, ISBN 0-671-76956-1. pp. 24-5.

^ Wills, Garry: op. cit., p. 35.

^ Wills, Garry: op. cit., pp. 34-5.

^ Library of Congress website, Nicolay Copy, page 1

^ Library of Congress website, Nicolay Copy, page 2

^ The New York Times, November 20, 1863.

^ Library of Congress website, Hay Copy, page 1

^ Library of Congress website, Hay Copy, page 2

^ Gettysburg National Military Park Historical Handbook website, GNMP website

^ Virtual Gettysburg website, Everett Copy

^ Nicolay, J. "Lincoln's Gettysburg Address," Century Magazine 47 (February 1894): 596–608, cited by Johnson, Martin P. "Who Stole the Gettysburg Address," Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association 24(2) (Summer 2003): 1-19.

^ Johnson, Martin P. "Who Stole the Gettysburg Address," Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association 24(2) (Summer 2003): 1-19.

^ Cornell University Library website, Bancroft Copy, page 1

^ Cornell University Library website, Bancroft Copy, page 2

^ Gettysburg National Military Park Historical Handbook website, GNMP website

^ Illinois Historic Preservation Agency website, Bliss Copy, page 1

^ Illinois Historic Preservation Agency website, Bliss Copy, page 2

^ Illinois Historic Preservation Agency website, Bliss Copy, page 3

^ Gettysburg National Military Park Historical Handbook website, GNMP website

^ Foote, Shelby, The Civil War, A Narrative: Fredericksburg to Meridian, Random House, 1958, ISBN 0-394-49517-9.

^ Vosmeier, Matthew Noah. "Lincoln Lore: Gary Wills' Lincoln at Gettysburg Website of The Lincoln Museum, Fort Wayne, Indiana. Accessed December 16, 2005.

^ Allen C. Guelzo. Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1999. ISBN 0802838723.

^ McPherson, James. "The Art of Abraham Lincoln," The New York Review of Books 39(13): July 16, 1992.

References

• Library of Congress, Washington, DC
• Division of Rare & Manuscript Collections, Carl A. Kroch Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
• Gettysburg National Military Park Historical Handbook (GNMP)

• Edward Everett's complete "Gettysburg Oration"
• Lincoln urban legends debunked

• Additional analysis from the John C. Stennis Institute of Government Web site

• Additional analysis from Our Documents: A National Initiative on American History, Civics, and Service Web site

• Additional analysis from the Annenberg/CPB Channel Web site

• NPR website with audio link of actor Sam Waterston reading the Gettysburg Address

• Cornell University Library citation of contemporary newspaper reactions.